surviving hell
by IceCrome
Summary: and without him, Nick knew he would've died a long time ago. N/E. 50 sentence challenge.


_Oh god why am I doing this auuugh._

_© Valve_

* * *

_001._ Walking

Nick's feet had become sore and probably blistered, but it was only him and Ellis left, and goddammit he needed to keep moving.

* * *

_002._ Waltz

"One two three, one two three, one two three..." Ellis couldn't keep his face from blushing as Nick whispered those words in his ear as they danced throughout the safe room.

* * *

_003._ Wishes

"Star ligh', star brigh', wish I may, wish I might, have the wish I wish tonight. I wish fer the strength t' keep movin' forward, and to still be able t' kill all sons o' bitches."

* * *

_004._ Wonder

In a moment of quiet in the safe room, Nick wonders when he finally started caring and seeing them as teammates and not as dead weight.

* * *

_005._ Worry

Ellis laid next to the unconscious Nick, his face etched with concern as he laced his fingers with his.

* * *

_006._ Whimsy

Nick didn't really realize how footloose Ellis was until after the apocalypse, when he stood by his door frame sipping coffee, watching the younger dance in the rain.

* * *

_007._ Waste

"It's such a shame..." Nick said, licking Ellis's cheek and slowly having one hand crawl down below his midsection, one already up his shirt; Ellis was panting hard, "to see such a body like yours go to such waste."

* * *

_008._ Whiskey and Rum

Ellis gave a hoot and a holler when he found a fridge filled with alcohol; Nick just gave a tired smile.

* * *

_009._ War

In the heat of the battle, with Boomer vomit on him and a Witch crying in the distance, with about fifty or more zombies around him, Nick thought _'This is what war feels like.'_

_

* * *

  
_

_010._ Weddings

And when he gets down on one knee to Ellis, he replays the same scene in his head to when he did it to Cookie, and prays to god that the wedding won't turn out to be a disaster like that one was.

* * *

_011._ Birthday

And Nick remembers they day he got his white suit, his birthday, and the day after when all this zombie shit started.

* * *

_012._ Blessing

"I give you my blessin' Nick," Coach laughed heartily, the embarrassed red face of his once-companion getting redder by the second, "because I reckon I'm the last family Ellis has got."

* * *

_013._ Bias

Ellis found Nick's opinion of his accent to be hypocritical when Coach's didn't bother him at all.

* * *

_014._ Burning

"You're an idiot, you know that?" Nick narrowed his eyes dangerously, and put a cool rag on Ellis's forehead. The mechanic could only smile nervously, and pull the 500 count sheets closer.

* * *

_015._ Breathing

The sound of Ellis's even, quiet breathing was the only thing keeping Nick calm at the moment as he heard a Hunter growling from outside the safe room.

* * *

_016._ Breaking

When Coach finally started to sob, Ellis not talking the entire way to the safe room, and when Nick spent the night with his head in his hand was when Rochelle realized that they were all breaking and she had to hold them together one way or another.

* * *

_017._ Belief

"You may not be a prayin' man, son." Coach said to Nick on the bridge, hundreds of infected around them, "But boy, you better find somethin' to believe in right now or else you ain't gettin' through this."

* * *

_018._ Balloon

After the apocalypse, Nick and Ellis managed to make their way to France via the army, and when Ellis managed to find happiness in a red balloon acquired from a vender in a Persian park, was when he realized he was in much, much too deep.

* * *

_019._ Balcony

Hearing rocks hit his window was what woke him up, seeing Ellis standing below his balcony is what _really _woke him up.

* * *

_020._ Bane

And every time he took a step, Nick knew death was right behind him.

* * *

_021._ Quiet

Ellis licking his hand when Nick put it over him to silence him to keep the Witch from hearing them let him know that the kid _really_ wasn't taking the whole _zombie apocalypse _thing seriously.

* * *

_022._ Quirks

There were many quirks Ellis had in bed, but Nick's personal favorite was his _very _sensitive neck.

* * *

_023._ Question

"Nick, we're friends, ain't we?"

"...Yeah, sure, Overalls." Nick took a swig of his soda, "Whatever helps you sleep at night."

* * *

_024._ Quarrel

Hearing the two boys fight was pretty orthodox, but hearing them fighting and then strange noises wasn't usual, and that just made Coach want to put his head in his hands and sigh.

* * *

_025._ Quitting

"I ain't lettin' ya' give up, Nick." Ellis said, hoisting him up from the ground, and placing a kiss on his temple, "Yer not leavin' me alone."

* * *

_026. _Jump

Having nothing left to give and nothing left to earn, Nick found himself standing on the edge of the Eiffel tower, but hearing Ellis shout _'Nick just what the _hell _are y' doin'?!' _made him want to re-think his decision.

* * *

_027._ Jester

Nick didn't like jokesters. It was no surprise that his immediate thought of Ellis was _'Jesus Christ what the hell.'_

_

* * *

  
_

_028._ Jousting

After the apocalypse was all good and done with, Ellis wanted to try new things, and, while Nick was okay with most of them, he did not like the fact that he was on a horse, in a knight costume, and about to do something he knew he was going to immensely regret.

* * *

_029._ Jewel

In the still of the night after their last round of lovemaking, Nick whispered into Ellis's neck _'Marry me'_, and slid quite possibly what was the biggest damn emerald Ellis had ever seen onto his finger.

* * *

_030. _Just

It was right, and completely justified what he was doing, and Ellis even wore a smile—a sad one, but a smile nonetheless—as Nick held the gun up to his _companion _and pulled the trigger, keeping one more person from turning completely infected.

* * *

_031._ Smirk

And every time Nick wore that little smirk, Ellis's knees just turned to _mush._

_

* * *

  
_

_032._ Sorrow

"Jesus..." Nick fell onto his knees, seeing a child no older than three on the ground, decaying and covered in dried and caked blood, and all Ellis could do was hold him and whisper it was going to be okay.

* * *

_033._ Stupidity

Nick was smart enough to know when enough was enough; Ellis wasn't.

* * *

_034._ Serenade

"_Stella stellina la notte si avvicina, la fiamma traballa, la mucca é nella stalla. La pecora e l'agnello, la vacca col vitello, la chioccia coi pulcini, la gatta coi gattini; e tutti fan la nanna nel cuore della mamma." _Nick hummed into Ellis's ear as they were curled together in the safe room. A shiver went down Ellis's spine and his eyelids grew very, very heavy.

* * *

_035._ Sarcasm

"Yeah Ellis," Nick said, a roll of his eyes, "I love you."

Ellis blushed and twiddled his thumbs.

"You're kidding me."

* * *

_036_. Sordid

The facade he had put on, that had taken him twenty years to perfect—that he was a mean, selfish asshole—was broken in mere seconds by Ellis who saw right past it.

* * *

_037._ Soliloquy

"Okay God, if you exist. I have a heart. Well, I used to, but goddammit it belongs to an optimistic hick who loves horses and would gladly bear a dead man's children. Are you happy now, God? You better be."

* * *

_038_. Sojourn

Nick was used to living in places for the briefest amount of time he could. All that changed after the infection, and knowing he could get used to waking up to Ellis's face every morning.

* * *

_039._ Share

"Here..." Ellis rubbed the back of his neck, handing Nick the last of his medic pack, "You need this more than I do."

* * *

_040._ Solitary

"Ellis sweetie," Rochelle said, putting a hand on his shoulder, glancing warily at Nick sitting on the chair solemnly, "maybe you should just leave him be."

* * *

_041._ Nowhere

They all stood together on the bridge; Ellis took Rochelle's and Nick's hand in his, while Rochelle gave a shake of her head and a smile, taking Coach's hand in hers. They faced the bridge, and were on their own road to nowhere.

* * *

_042._ Neutral

His face looked bland, but inside, oh, _inside _was a fire that burned and made him want to kill that Spitter who hurt him.

* * *

_043._ Nuance

It took a very, very keen eye to see the small raise in eyebrow that Nick raised when Ellis lifted up his shirt so Coach could look at his wounds.

* * *

_044. _Near

Nick stood just a little bit closer than usual when Ellis was injured.

* * *

_045._ Natural

Locking and loading, shooting a gun and swinging an axe, everything just felt so_ easy._

_

* * *

  
_

_046._ Horizon

"Y' see that Nick?" Ellis smiles the biggest goddamn smile Nick has ever seen, "Them's the famous Savannah sunset."

* * *

_047._ Valiant

Ellis's eyes went wide and his heart began to race as Nick pushed him aside and rushed into battle, defending all of them from the zombies so they could run to the safe room.

* * *

_048._ Virtuous

The first time they made love, Ellis started praying to God to help him get through this—Nick knew that this boy was the chastest damn thing he'd ever seen.

* * *

_049. _Victory

The had made it across the bridge—_all _of them—and into the helicopter, and that was when Nick finally kissed him.

* * *

_050._ Defeat

And then, going into the army base, they all held hands as bullets poured into their chests.


End file.
